The present invention relates to electrical contacts in general, and more particularly to an electrical female socket contact that mates with a male pin contact to provide a sacrificial make-first/break-last contact arrangement for use in a “hot pluggable” electrical contact configuration.
There is a need for electrical contacts that can be connected and disconnected under an electrical load i.e., “hot pluggable” and at the same time have the capability of accommodating axial misalignment of pin and socket electrical contacts. Furthermore, the socket contact should be able to provide an arc receiving “sacrificial” portion to maintain electrical integrity of the fully mated pin and socket contacts.
It is accordingly a general object of the invention to fulfill this need.